Instant Juice: Syracuse 70, Boston College 85

A quick take on Syracuse’s 85-70 loss to Boston College in Chestnut Hill on Wednesday evening:

WHAT HAPPENED: After Syracuse had weathered a torrid start from Boston College to pull within 40-37 at halftime, the Eagles came out of intermission on a 7-1 run to take a 47-38 lead with 16:42 to go. Boston College tacked on another 7-0 midway through the second half highlighted by a Jordan Chatman 3-pointer to give the Eagles a commanding 69-54 lead that Syracuse would never recover from.

ANALYSIS: Barring a miracle run in the conference championship for a school that’s never won a single ACC Tournament game, the loss to the Eagles marked the end of any glimmer of hope for Syracuse securing an at-large NCAA bid. Boston College came into Wednesday night 12th in the ACC and 96th in the ESPN RPI rankings, and the defeat will pull SU’s ranking down from 45. A second-straight NIT bid seems inevitable for this year’s group.

HERO: Tyus Battle went off for 29 points, while Oshae Brissett added 18 points and nine rebounds, and Frank Howard chipped in 17 points and five assists. They got little help from their teammates, with Matt Moyer (2 points) and Paschual Chukwu (4) providing the only other points.

ZERO: Syracuse remained competitive for an at-large NCAA bid until late in February largely predicated on its defense, which came in allowing just 63.8 points per game, good for 12th in the country. But the zone struggled all night, allowing BC to shoot 14-27 from downtown and 48.1 percent overall. The ‘Big 3’ of the Eagles (Chatman, Jerome Robinson and Ky Bowman) combined for 63 of BC’s 85 points.

WHAT’S NEXT: Syracuse closes out the regular season when it hosts No. 18 Clemson on March 3 at 2 p.m.

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Wes has worked for Rivals.com covering the New York Knicks, as well as for Scout.com covering Syracuse athletics. Wes has also worked for the South China Morning Post (Hong Kong) and reported on the NBA and MLB for the New York Sportscene. A native of Long Island, New York, Wes graduated from Syracuse University in 2005. Follow him on Twitter @ChengWes.